How Bus Transit Can Help the Auto Industry

A map of the companies involved in the supply chain for U.S. transit buses. (Image: EDF)

When Vice President Joe Biden visited Minnesota's New Flyer bus company to tout the economic stimulus law's $8.4 billion investment in transit, hopes were high for a boom in cleaner-burning vehicle production -- which made for some bad press when the nationwide transit funding crunch forced New Flyer to lay off 13 percent of its workers.

But the recession hasn't dampened the economic potential of hybrid bus production, as the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) laid out today in a new report [PDF] on the industry. In fact, EDF found, transit bus companies share enough skills and regional foothold with the auto industry -- the map of bus makers pictured above could be mistaken for a map of automakers -- to pave the way for fuel-efficiency advances that would ultimately benefit all vehicles.

After noting that 32 percent of American transit buses do not rely on gas or diesel to run, today's report continues:

The bus industry serves as an important entry point for advanced vehicle technologies, especially in new vehicles that require refueling infrastructure and other major changes. For instance, since transit agencies have a well-defined base of centrally managed fleets, they are ideal for testing and proving plug-in hybrid and all-electric buses — thus leading the way for the passenger car industry.

While U.S. bus companies are well-positioned proving grounds for cleaner-burning vehicles, their export potential remains low, according to the EDF report. That's largely because the largest market for transit buses is China, where demand is expected to grow by 12 percent annually over the next decade -- double the projected growth rate in North America -- and where production standards are markedly lower.

"Emerging countries’ lower technology levels and standards appear to prevent them from competing in industrial country bus markets, while industrial countries’ higher production costs and standards appear to prevent them from competing in emerging country markets," EDF concluded.

Even so, there is a limited opening for bus supply companies to prosper on a global level. About 12,000 of Indianapolis-based Allison Transmission's 14,000 sales have come in China, and Firestone, which produces bus suspensions, has operations in China and India.

Yet it's the domestic employment and growth potential of bus makers that is the ultimate subject of EDF's report, which notes that such potential "is heavily dependent on the availability of public funding for bus transit." And at a time when labor unions are pushing the job-creating power of federal funding for operating costs, EDF's findings represent the other side of the coin -- the role transit money plays in sustaining manufacturing jobs many miles away from the cities where local networks operate.

I think the Obama admininistration and your congressional audience would be interested to know that the report also shows that increasing government investment in conventional and green transit bus systems would create high-quality manufacturing jobs, especially in states with double-digit unemployment rates, such as California (12.2%), Indiana (10%), Michigan (15.3%), and Ohio (10.1%).

This increased investment also would cut auto-related global warming pollution significantly, according to the researchers at the Duke University Center on Globalization, Governance & Competitiveness, who prepared the report on behalf of Environmental Defense Fund.

Thanks!

Sean Crowley
Environmental Defense Fund

http://www.edf.org Kathryn Phillips

Environmental groups, labor leaders, smart growth advocates, renewable energy companies, and others have said for some time that doing the right thing by the environment will also be good for the economy. The Duke University group’s supply chain study on transit buses proves this. More–and more consistent–investment in transit supports good jobs for American workers and helps make sure all Americans can get to their jobs. And it does this while reducing global warming pollution and other health-threatening air pollution.

I’m curious why other forms of transit were not similarly evaluated for job growth potential? Is it because we source more rail cars from outside the US, or because we expect our transit modeshare to remain heavy on buses? With all the talk about high speed rail, I’d be curious about the job potential from building out our rail systems as well as buses, to be able to put together a more complete picture of what we would get from more federal investment in transit.

Thank you for the great report, and thanks Elana for covering it!
-Shannon Tracey